Author: Professor Good Ales

Written by Garret Ellison for mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — It’s that time of year, when the color starts changing in the leaves and the beer.

In an effort to keep the mojo going from this year’s shared Beer City USA title, the brewers of greater Grand Rapids have cooked up a second collaboration beer that’s hitting tap handles around the area Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Eleven breweries this fall will serve their take on The Grand Pumpkin, a follow-up to this summer’s Beer City Pale Ale project, when 10 local breweries each made their version of a shared recipe ale as homage to Grand Rapids’ ‘Beer City’ title.

This time around, the rules were looser, allowing each brewer to be creative integrating pumpkin into the beer recipe, said Wob Wanhatalo, head brewer at the new Mitten Brewing Co. opening Oct. 25.

“It’s kind of everyone looking at one ingredient like you would with an ‘Iron Chef’ competition,” said Wanhatalo, who, until this month was brewing at The Hideout Brewing Co.

“What can I do with the beer that best represents that ingredient, but also trying to be different from everyone else?” he said.

The idea came from a Grand Rapids Society of Brewers meeting in August, where the group brainstormed ways to keep the energy in Grand Rapids beer heading into the next round of Beer City USA voting. Grand Rapids and Asheville, N.C. shared the 2012 title after voters in a nonscientific online poll started by homebrew pioneer Charlie Papazian bestowed the crown on the two cities in the spring.
Continue reading “11 “Beer City USA” Breweries Collaborate on The Grand Pumpkin, Hitting Taps in Grand Rapids”

Image courtesy alibaba.com

Written by Johnathan Harder for Planet Weekly

(Note: when used in beer, pumpkin is considered a vegetable; entered in Category 21: spice/herb/vegetable-PGA)

You can brew beer with just about anything and as the craft beer movement progresses we will see more and more foodstuffs dropped into the fermentation tank to put a new spin on beer. Fruit in beer is nothing new but…..

You can brew beer with just about anything and as the craft beer movement progresses we will see more and more foodstuffs dropped into the fermentation tank to put a new spin on beer. Fruit in beer is nothing new but the skill with which it is being used is reaching a pretty nice level. I thought the warm weather was gone for good and we had moved solidly into fall…apparently not. So in the hopes that the cool weather returns I picked a pumpkin beer to review. Being the realist I am I know that the warmth could stick around for a bit longer so I also chose a nice tart cherry ale as well.
Continue reading “Fruit Beers for the Season”

From Homebrewtalk.com. No Author Attributed

This article tries to be yet another one that explains the concept of residual alkalinity and mash pH. For many all grain brewers this subject is the last frontier. For others, especially the ones cursed with very alkaline water, it is essential for brewing a wide range of styles.

Water and pH

 

 

Continue reading “Understanding Mash pH”

Written by Brandon Jones for embracethefunk.com

I’m happy to be back with another great Q&A for the month. This week I got the chance to spend some time with Caleb Staton of Upland Brewing Company in Indiana. Last weekend they won Gold at GABF for their “Sour Reserve Geuze”, which I’m jealous of those who got to taste it! So on to the interview!

 

ETF- What was your sour beer epiphany moment?
Continue reading “Caleb Staton of Upland Brewing Company Q&A!”

Written by Jay R. Brooks for santacruzsentinel.com

This time of year, I spend a week in Denver, attending the country’s biggest beer festival: the Great American Beer Festival, or GABF. For a number of years, I’ve also been privileged to be one of the judges who help determine which beers will win gold, silver and bronze medals in 84 categories. This year was a record year, with more than 4,420 beers from 673 breweries in 48 of the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Guam.

For three days, 184 of my fellow judges and I hunker down in the basement of the hotel where the judging takes place. Our ultimate goal is to find the best of American brewing. One of the ways we accomplish this is to eliminate beers that we think are not as good as others, that have flaws we don’t find in others.

These may not even be the 10 most common defects because, as far as I know, no one has ever ranked beer defects by how often they occur. The 10 I chose are the flaws you’re likely to encounter if you drink your fair share of beer. For each one, I’ve given its common descriptor, the scientific name brewers use and its likely cause or causes.

It’s possible that you have tasted one of these defects in a beer you’ve enjoyed and didn’t realize it wasn’t supposed to be there. For some defects, it’s considered a flaw only if it’s too pronounced. At low levels, it may be perfectly acceptable — even desirable. Or it may be that you noticed one of these off-flavors but didn’t know its cause. Some causes are quite complicated, so I’ve tried to simplify them as best I could. Hopefully, this will give you a better sense of some of the more unusual flavors you sometimes find in a beer but wished you didn’t.

The defects

• Band-Aid (chlorophenol): You just know something is out of whack when your beer smells of adhesive bandages. This aroma also may remind you of disinfectant or diaper aromas. It’s the artificial quality that really stands out in this defect, which usually is caused by a problem with sanitizers or yeast.
• Butter or butterscotch (diacetyl): Think of that artificial butter aroma and flavor from movie-theater popcorn, and you’ve got the diacetyl character in some beers. At low levels, this can be an enjoyable flavor component. But just like popcorn that’s swimming in butter, too much can make for an unpleasant experience. Beers with too much diacetyl often are called “butter bombs,” and the cause is often a problem with the yeast and amino acids. Continue reading “Brooks on Beer: The 10 Most Common Beer Defects”

Written by “April Flowers.” From redorbit.com

Imagine a hot summer day, sitting in the cheap seats at your favorite baseball park. You have your hot dog, your giant foam finger, and a beer. Does life get any better than this? Can scientists build a better beer?

An international consortium of scientists believes so, and they have been mapping the genome of barley to help produce new and better varieties, vital for the beer and whiskey industries. Their results have been published in the journal, Nature.
Continue reading “Scientists Map The Barley Genome To Produce A Better Beer”

Written by Chris Morris for nj.com

What happens at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) says a lot about what’s to come for the beer industry. Who won what, what styles emerged as favorites – they all give craft beer fans a glimpse of their future refrigerator shelves.
So what happened at this years GABF? What does it all mean moving forward? Sadly, I can’t see into the future, but here are some of my takes from this year’s event.

1. Unfortunately, New Jersey had a poor showing. Only four local breweries made the trip out to Denver this year. Harvest Moon brought its Citra Double IPA and Sinterklaas Belgian Winter Ale; Iron Hill showcased Pinelands Pils and The Cannibal; J.J. Bittings featured Bad Boy Octoberfest, Dunkel Weiss, Knockout Bock, OnyXXX Stout, and Victoria’s Golden Ale; and Flying Fish showed off Abbey Dubbel, Exit 16, Exit 4, HopFish IPA, and won bronze in the Specialty Beer category with Exit 8.

I don’t think this accurately represents New Jersey craft beer, though. Some of New Jersey’s best are small, and can’t yet afford to make the long and expensive trip out to Denver. Had Carton, Kane, New Jersey Beer Co., Boaks, Cricket Hill, River Horse, and the others made it out, I think Jersey would have come home with a few more medals. That being said, it’s definitely an uphill battle if we want to compete with California, Colorado, Oregon, and the other states that dominate the craft beer industry.
Continue reading “On Tap: Five things to take away from the 2012 GABF”

Written by Tom Falco for examiner.com

Over 6000 people came to this year’s Grovetoberfest, the craft beer festival held in Peacock Park in Coconut Grove. The festival this year, was held Saturday, October 13, where over 200 craft beers including several new releases were served to the thirsty crowd.
Continue reading “Best Craft Beers Chosen at Grovetoberfest”

This is a PGA archive edition, featuring some of the best from The Professor.

Profile by Ken Carman

In the 90s I was touring northeast Ohio and decided to pop into the Thirsty Dog on the northwest side of Akron, back when The Dogs were a small Ohio brewpub chain. Often, after performing as an entertainer, I would stop and write something about what happened during the show. Honestly? It was an excuse to try local cuisine and good beer.

I sat at the bar and asked what they had that was hoppy. I sighed to myself when I heard the answer, “Only an ‘ESB?'” A moment later the tender came back and I sipped a little, wrote a little and… “wait, there’s another hop in here…” wrote a little, and… “Damn, another hop!”

That ESB literally unfolded one hop at a time as it warmed. I immediately asked if the brewer was in. It takes talent, a knowledge of brew science and hops to do that. While I have had some incredibly great hopped up beers over the years, no other brewer’s beer has come close to that amazing experience since.

Fred Karm: short, black hair, beer/brew hyper in an absolutely pleasing way for those of us fascinated with the craft, looks a bit different than the picture from Hoppin Frog’s web site. In fact, if you’ve ever seen Warehouse 13 on SyFy, Stargate SG-1, Unforgiven or Rush Hour 2, he looks a lot these days like the picture of a young Saul Rubinek you see to your right. The height is about right too. I found it a bit spooky.

Last year I wrote a Brew Biz column on Ohio brewer Tim Rastetter and the new Thirsty Dog; my second interview with Tim over the years, and asked Tim what ever happened to Fred. He told me he was at Hoppin Frog. I should have known: I’m a giant fan of extreme beers and have given out samples of B.O.R.I.S., their Russian Imperial, at my two yearly summer beer tastings in Beaver River Station, NY, and at Big Bob’s Barley Wine Bash on Pensacola Beach every September.

Of course I did. How could I resist sharing a beer with a fascinating name, label and such a grand savor: all before I knew it was a GABF Gold Medal winner in 2008?

I promised Fred I would come back and do a Brew Biz on Hoppin Frog in June. Right now they’re expanding and pictures simply wouldn’t do it justice. It may be August, depending upon my schedule. I will stop by though.

Continue reading “Brewer Profile: Fred Karm”